Wenger: Confident Mustafi is a leader

Arsène Wenger has said that Shkodran Mustafi’s confidence and personality has contributed to how quickly he has formed an effective partnership with Laurent Koscielny: “Laurent Koscielny is the leader because he is captain but Mustafi looks like he is taking leadership as well at the back.”

Mustafi, too, is vocal not only during the games, where Wenger says he sees him “speaking a lot”, but also in the dressing room, where, according to Theo Walcott, “if you are not doing something right he tells you.”

All of this has contributed to Mustafi ably replacing Per Mertesacker. Mertesacker is the club captain, with Koscielny taking on the armband in his absence. But Mertesacker was also one of the adults on the field, a leader and organiser, and it seems that Mustafi has taken that on very quickly. There are other parts of his game that have impressed too, such as his aggression, pace and knowledge of where to stand, but he is also having a big impact in the dressing room.